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Strong and Moving!

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

NOTES: The real-life Eric Erickson was 72 when the film was released, living in "quiet retirement" in Sweden and on the Riviera. He was re-instated in the eyes of his family and friends at a luncheon in his honor in Stockholm on 4 June 1945. Erickson told reporters in 1962 that he still carried in his wallet a photo of Marianne Mollendorf. Location scenes filmed in West Berlin, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Stockholm, and coastal villages of Sweden and Denmark.PRINCIPAL MIRACLE: A real-life story filmed without any major distortions.COMMENT: A well-produced and reasonably exciting spy thriller, which could have been even more forcefully dramatic given sharper playing - especially by the male lead - and more stylish direction. Oddly, none of my American colleagues agree with the above exceptions. All think Holden's performance extremely able, Seaton's direction sharp and vibrant. Not until I read the overseas reviews did I find myself no longer the odd critic out. It's not just simply that Holden plays Holden rather than Erickson, but that his performance for the most part is so tired, jaded, flat and shallow. Rarely does Holden bring Erickson to life. More often he is just an actor who has memorized his lines but mouths them with little expression and no conviction. As a director, Seaton can certainly stage his scenes competently, but he seems to go out of his way to avoid the extra punch of atmosphere and style. With Seaton, the script's the thing. He feels his immortal words need no embellishments. Certainly there is a bit of occasional action, but the dialogue scenes are all played slowly, methodically and monotonously. I'm mighty sick of the sight and sound of most of the players by journey's end. Particularly Hugh Griffith and Ernst Schroder. Those players I still like - Wolfgang Preiss as the Gestapo colonel and Charles Regnier as a German embassy official - have had the good sense not to out-stay their welcome. Even Lilli Palmer, fine actress though she generally is, gives an uneven account of herself here. Seaton's problem as a director is that he's afraid to let himself go. Afraid to trim superfluous or long-winded dialogue, afraid to let his cameraman throw a few mood shadows across his actors' faces, afraid to fully utilize the scenic impact of his real locations, afraid to clap on the pace. To George Seaton, shears and shadows are the enemy. OTHER VIEWS: Ingmar Bergman fans in particular and admirers of Swedish cinema in general are unlikely to be enamored of the cursory treatment accorded Ulf Palme and Eva Dahlbeck, whilst Klaus Kinski followers will be forced to wait a mighty long time to see their idol do a three-minute, no-dialogue stint (though it is one of the most memorable moments in the film). But then neither the Bergman nor Kinski cliques are likely to want to see The Counterfeit Traitor anyway. For $4½ million, neither the producer nor picturegoers seem to have gotten equivalent value for their money. Nonetheless, this picturization of a real-life drama does maintain a high degree of suspense throughout the twists and turns of an often hair-raising plot. Real locations help authenticity, and the principal players (in particular Holden, Palmer and Griffith) come across with honor. - JHR writing as George Addison.

A very good spy thriller despite its age. Its treatment of the Germans, the Allies and the love affair is surprisingly sophisticated with many shades of gray and many interesting characters and an unexpected ending to the love affair. Based on a true story, it tells the tale of an American-born Swedish citizen who is coerced into spying for the allies and who soon adopts the cause for other reasons. The spy-craft, and the many deceptions and tricks are quite believable.But for some reason I wasn't accepting the movie as the flawless work that it seemed to be, and found it difficult to define why, at first.For one thing, the constant narration is pretty annoying. They should have just shown the story instead of having him feed us the story.Holden, as Erickson, seemed a bit flat as a character. But then it struck me: I just couldn't tune in to him as a character because I could not understand his motivations. They portray him as a cold businessman at first, coerced into spying, yet he acts way way beyond someone who has been blackmailed. I could not understand why he not only fully co-operated at first, but even contributed beyond the minimum and never looked for a way out. As another example of strange behaviour, he could have treated his friend differently after the staged betrayal was performed for the Nazis, and after he proved himself a loyal friend. But he just followed his instructions blindly even though there was no danger. In fact, he could have avoided danger by telling him it was an act, seeing as his friend didn't believe him anyways. They also used the blackmail trick a bit too often on many characters, and I never understood why they all gave in so easily. I thought of several ways they could have found a way out so why couldn't they try as well? In short, these behaviour flaws bothered me. But it's definitely worth a watch nevertheless, and it may even impress you as a forgotten classic.

This excellent movie makes you really feel like the characters are in your living room. It shows both the true horror and the rush to love as fast as possible during wartime. The more I watch it the more I pick up things I missed the last time. There is a lot of things to be learned by this movie. Both the Horrors and feelings of war and how people act under severe stress.

Well made with good elements of suspense and done before spy movie characters became stereotypes and devices such as cyanide pills became cliches. There are several good performances, including Holden at his grim best and a very good cameo by Klaus Kinski who plays a refugee Jew dying of fever. I thought he looked familiar but I couldn't place him until I saw the credits on IMDB. The boy who played the Hitler Youth member was also very convincing. The locations gave a nice sense of authenticity and the escape scene through Copenhagen traffic was very moving.